Search form

Main menu

College House Competition

The Power Down Challenge is a month-long energy reduction competition among College House and Sansom Place residents hosted by Penn's Green Campus Partnership. Students in each residence participate to see which building can reduce its energy use the most and compete for prizes.

2015 Winners!

Congrats to Gregory andHarrison College Houses for their victories during this year's Power Down Challenge. Gregory won with the greatest percent reduction of any College House with a 1.67% drop in electricity usage, and Harrison had thelargest overall kilowatt hour reduction with 2,518 kWh reduced (equivalent to planting 45 trees or avoiding 3,828 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions).

Congrats to all the College Houses on an excellent job in promoting energy conservation awareness. Please take our survey and share your feedback with us, and get entered for a chance to win a free Penn hoodie or fleece blanket!

Competition Prizes

The winning College Houses will each receive a catered dessert reception from Ben & Jerry's to celebrate their victory (read their latest Social & Environmental Assessment Report)! Residents from the winning house will also have a chance to win free Penn apparel to help them stay warm and turn down the thermostat during the winter months. There will be additional prizes offered through social media engagement for interested students!

2015 Competition Summary

Each year, Penn's residences compete to see which building can achieve the great energy reduction and contribute to the University's Climate Action Plan goals to reduce the campus's carbon footprint. Before the start of the Power Down Challenge, each house’s average energy use is calculated as a part of a unique baseline reading, which is used as a basis for comparison during the competition. Because the Quad is metered as one building, Fisher Hassenfeld, Ware, and Riepe collaborate together as a single building.

Electricity is measured in kilowatt-hoursto determine the competition winner.

The competition is based on two different measurements: (1)Percent reduction in average electricity usage and (2) Total gross electricity reduction. The winning building for each category will receive various prizes, which are listed below.